Valve is preparing 'Team Fortress 2' for eSports

Valve plans to kick off the first round of beta testing for Team Fortress 2's competitive matchmaking mode within the next week or so, the company writes in an update on the game'sCompetitive Beta Steam Group. In the coming weeks, Valve promises to open up the new mode to select members of that group. Plus, it'll host limited-time stress tests with larger numbers of members.

"We know you'd all like to start testing now, and eventually we hope all of you will get a chance to play and share your thoughts," Valve writes. "But remember that all testing happens in stages and right now we're at stage one."

Group members with the best chance of getting selected meet the following criteria, as outlined by Valve:

Have either purchased a copy of Team Fortress 2 prior to June 23, 2011, or have made a purchase from the Mann Co. Store

Have Steam Guard Mobile Authenticator enabled

Have a phone number associated with your Steam account

The new mode should place people in games against similarly skilled players and it could open up some serious eSports potential for Team Fortress 2. The game already has a competitive scene, though it's largely unofficial and is held back by a lack of proper matchmaking and ranking systems. Valve knows how to do eSports, too -- it's the company behind Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Dota 2, after all. The International, Dota 2's world championship series, featured a prize pool of $18.4 million last year.

Jessica earned her BA in journalism from ASU's Walter Cronkite School in 2011, and she's written for online outlets since 2008, with four years as senior reporter at Joystiq. She specializes in covering independent video games and esports, and she strives to tell human stories within the broader tech industry. Jessica is also a sci-fi novelist with a completed manuscript floating through the mysterious ether of potential publishers.